Jefferson was the worst of the worst. It was he , following up on what was planned for in the Constitution, that opened the gateway to (more) forced breeding and rape of enslaved women. Claiming it was about "human rights," he ended the International Slave Trade as a protectionist measure to raise the price of domestic slaves of which Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland had many because they screwed up the soil growing tobacco. He wrote George Washington about the value of a Black woman producing a child every two years being greater than that of any field hand.

Lest he be considered a benevolent slave owner, he ordered teen enslaved boys to be beaten in his nailery to increase productivity. Historian Edwin Betts uncovered a letter describing those actions and hid it lest Jefferson's image be tarnished.

That foolishness about not evaluating Jefferson by today's standards is bull. John Jay was born owning slaves but knew better. He ended slavery in New York and emancipated most of his slaves while they were living. Thomas Adams his sometimes friend knew better and never owned slaves. Jefferson had many examples of people who did better, he was more like his neighbor Patrick Henry who couldn't believe he owned slaves but the benefit was so great he couldn't let them go.

Every Black woman raped to produce a child after 1808 can at least partially blame Jefferson. Sally Hemings can blame him a lot, especially for never freeing her after she agreed to come back from Paris.. F*** Jefferson.